2011.12.13 - Maverik Center, Salt Lake City, USA

bumblefoot Heading to Salt Lake City..... 15 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite

Right before hard-rock band Guns N' Roses launched into its explosive cover of Paul McCartney's "Live and Let Die" about one hour into its show Wednesday night at the Maverik Center, West Valley City Mayor Mike Winder improbably stepped onstage and greeted the band's mercurial frontman Axl Rose.
Winder congratulated the band on this past week's announcement that the Los Angeles-based band had been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and presented Rose a key to the city.
"How long do you stay open?" Rose asked the mayor.
"All night for Guns N' Roses," the mayor replied.
The mayor had no idea how right he was, as the band played an epic, thrilling and utterly captivating three-hour set with more than 30 songs that only ended as the closing refrains of "Paradise City" were played just after 2 a.m.
The big question of the night was whether the backing band of Guns N' Roses was up to the task of accompanying Rose on some of the best rock songs of the latter part of the 20th century, or whether they — like Winder, who has been in the news lately because of writing news stories under a fake byline — were merely impostors.
The answer? The seven musicians, despite some missteps at the end of the long evening, made most in attendance forget the former band members of GNR, Those Who Shall Not Be Named.
The acoustics in the well-attended arena were superb as Axl and the Magnificent Seven led the crowd through a blistering set that included songs from the band's landmark 1987 debut "Appetite for Destruction" to 2008's "Chinese Democracy." After the concert began with the opening theme to the serial-killer TV show "Dexter," guitarist D.J. Ashba unleashed the memorable opening riffs of the title song to the the 2008 and the band was off to the races.
GNR has been legendary for its lateness for showing up on stage, but refreshingly the eight began their show at 11 p.m., a mere 45 minutes after opening act Black Label Society wrapped up its set.
Rose, 49, whose appearance has been lampooned in past years with added weight and cornrows, looked lean and fit in a black leather jacket and blue jeans with a crimson bandanna hanging from his hip. In between changing his headwear about seven times, he fulfilled all expectations of being the consummate frontman, swaying to the rhythms of his mic stand and frequently sprinting to each side of the stage. Rose was in fine voice, with a range between a falsetto to deep tenor, and, best of all, acted as if he still had something to prove.
The truth was, he had much to prove, after all of the band's founding members have left the band save for him. But his hand-picked band was just as incendiary as he was, and Rose gave nearly every band member a chance to claim the spotlight and prove that even though they were not Those Who Shall Not Be Named, they were excellent musicians nonetheless. For example, with Rose off stage, bassist Tommy Stinson led the band though a raucous rendition of The Dead Boys' "Sonic Reducer," which was followed by keyboard player Dizzy Reed's impassioned piano cover of The Who's "Baba O'Riley." (Side note: each of those songs has been notably and frequently played by Pearl Jam, a grunge-era band that was supposed to have replaced "hair bands" like GNR.)
But GNR never acted like a group of over-the-hill men mining for nostalgia. With four guitar players and two keyboard players, the band added new dimensions and twists to songs that the original band of five couldn't summon. Although the band stumbled over each other musically at times, the effect gave the band a rawness and energy that most corporate rock bands don't possess. They proved that they are still relevant, and while many of the the "Chinese Democracy" songs were momentum-killers, there was a spark to even those songs that looked as if this incarnation of GNR could last and and create more music.
The missteps noted above came near the end of the long shows, when transitions between choruses and verses on "Nightrain" and "Patience" weren't as crisp as they should have been. During the encore, Rose stopped "Better" in the middle of the song because one guitarist messed up. But, almost remarkably, Rose was chipper and in good spirits throughout. And, frankly, if the band hadn't made any mistakes as they neared the three-hour mark, I would have been surprised. I was just as exhausted and emotionally spent as they were, considering the time of night. (After about an hour of GNR's set, there began a steady trickle of people leaving that continued all night, considering that it was a work and school night. Besides, many of us are of the demograpic where it's no longer fun to show up for midnight screenings of films. We will leave that to the "Twilight" and "Harry Potter" kids.) I have probably made plenty of misspelled words throughout this document, as well as a fair share of bad gramar. Look there, I misspelled that word, because I'm so tired.
What made the night ultimately unforgettable was the ability of the band to emotionally convey both the hard-edged "Guns" songs (where we are able to live vicariously through Rose's tales of the seedy underbelly of street life) as well as the tender "Roses" side of the band that is often forgotten. The musical highlight of the night was a song that has long divided GNR fans: the Elton John-inspired ballad "November Rain," which reached an intensity never even hinted at on record.
There is just one more thing to say. Boss, I will see you on Monday. I need some rest.

gunsnroses So long West Valley. Thanks for the Key to the City and we hope to be back soon.:-) pic.twitter.com/dILL6jR1 5 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite

Guns N' Roses Frontman Presented With Key To West Valley City

Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose was presented with a key to the city about one hour into the band's concert Wednesday night (December 14) at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah. Right before the group launched into its cover version of Paul McCartney's "Live And Let Die", Mayor Mike Winder walked onstage and greeted Rose, congratulating the singer on this past week's announcement that the Los Angeles-based act will be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

"How long do you stay open?" Rose asked the mayor after being presented with the key.

"All night for Guns N' Roses," the mayor replied.

Guns N' Roses reportedly played a three-hour set last night consisting of more than 30 songs, ending just after 2 a.m. with the band's classic track "Paradise City".

Salt Lake Tribune: On Tuesday night the Guns N’ Roses legendary rock band played a very entertaining three-hour set at the Maverick Center and you went on stage during the show and presented Axl Rose with the key to West Valley City, which, best I can tell, is the first time that that honor has been bestowed upon Axl (laughs). So, I was curious; are you a GN’R fan and what made you decide to give Axl the key to the city?

Winder: You know I’m a Guns N’ Roses fan and, of course, I have an eclectic mix - if you go to my iPod you’ll see Vivaldi and Handel, you’ll see the Tabernacle Choir, you’ll see Alan Jackson and Guns N’ Roses, so a pretty big variety. But yeah, they just named – last week they announced that Guns N’ Roses would be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I thought, “Wow, here we are in West Valley City, we have a Rock and Roll Hall of famer coming.” We sent a note back to the band to see if they were interested in the honor and they said, “Absolutely. In fact, we want you to do it on stage” – I just thought it would be backstage, but… We give the key to the city to prominent dignitaries when they come through […]; when Hillary Clinton spoke to our Cultural Celebration Center a couple years ago she received a key to the city… So yeah, when prominent dignitaries come through we give them one; and hey, Axl Rose is coming to town and it’s just on the heels of his big announcement, so why not.